1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical instruments, and more specifically it relates to instruments related to laparoscopy and all surgery that is performed through tiny incisions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Medical instruments have been in use for years. Typically, medical instruments vary greatly in configuration depending on what procedure that the medical instruments are utilized.
One such procedure that medical instruments are utilized are minimally invasive or laparoscopic procedures.
During a minimally invasive or laparoscopic procedure a tissue removal system is generally utilized to remove any objects that are larger than the incisions that were made to enter the abdomen, such as but not limited to large uteri, large ovaries, sections of the bowel, primary abdominal tumors, and tumors of the pancreas, stomach, kidneys, ureters, adrenal glands, large and small bowel, vascular system, as well as pregnancies within the uterus and outside the uterus. The tissue removal system allows the surgeon to remove large masses of tissue without needing to make larger incisions. Generally tissue removal systems have included some form of morcellation, or breaking the tissue into pieces, in order to remove the tissue through the small holes. This breaking apart of tissue or morcellation has been described using round blades, straight blades, electrical energy, and other means.
To the knowledge of the inventor there has been no invention of a surgical tissue removal system utilizing mechanical energy to force a tissue through a small diameter incision or hole without first breaking the tissue into pieces or morcellating the tissue. The device described herein relies upon the strength and relative impenetrability of an engulfing bag, as well as the mechanical energy of an electric or manually powered device, to force a tissue mass through a strong, small diameter ring harness without first breaking the tissue mass into pieces. Such an invention, as described in this application, would eliminate the risks that are inherent to morcellation of tissue and accomplish the removal of a large tissue without the use of morcellation.